11 July 2008

wst... is in receipt of several letters currently circulating amongst concerned alexandria, la. citizens. the letters stem from robert ratcliff's cutting up and moving an historical queen anne style home. the last letter calls for robert ratcliff to resign from the alexandria historical preservation commission.

the first letter dated 03 july 2008 from 'concerned residents of the monroe street/garden district area' to robert ratcliff, who is the president and c.e.o. of ratcliff construction company, l.l.c., implored him to "reconsider [his] decision to move this beautiful example of a nineteenth century queen anne (located at 2401 monroe street) outside of the city limits." click here to download one page .pdf

sources tell wst... that mr. ratcliff's response to this letter was pretty much to tell the residents to mind their own business.

sources further inform wst... that this beautiful home is probably being moved by this commission member to make way for low rent apartments. mr. ratcliff needs to be ousted for if nothing else but being a rank hypocrite.

not to be outdone, concerned residents in a letter dated 10 july 2008 and directed at mayor of alexandria, la. jacques roy as well as city councilman louis marshall and melinda anderson, executive director of the historic preservation commission to express their:

"[S]hock and outrage that a man who is entrusted with the duty of advocating for, protecting and preserving Alexandria’s historic buildings and neighborhoods, has perpetrated an act counter to what his title implies. As a Commissioner of the Historic Preservation Commission for the City of Alexandria, Mr. Robert Ratcliff’s actions do not embody the creed of that Commission."

[...]

[W]e are calling upon him to resign due to the conflict of interest he has shown in his actions of failing to protect the historic buildings that he has been commissioned to protect. We do not feel that a person who has committed such an act should be entrusted with the future of our city’s historic buildings." ~ click here to download two page .pdf